An Heir For The Earth King
by toomanypickles
Summary: A couple of years after the events of A Grand Tour, Toph finds herself unwillingly caught up in court intrigue in Ba Sing Se, and all because of Bosco...
1. How to Frustrate Your Mother

"Toph! Stop running around this instant!" Poppy growled in annoyance at her daughter's unruly behavior, as she tried for the umpteenth time that day to get Toph to sit still. "You're too old to be acting this way!"

Toph shook her head and laughed. It was the Earth King's birthday, and all the noble families had been invited to the party. The Bei Fong's were staying with the Kang family during their visit to Ba Sing Se. Luckily, the Kangs had a garden house, so Toph didn't have to stay in the same house as Keito all the time, or the rest of the family for that matter. She didn't get along with the other nobles so well; after all, she had spent the last few years getting back to nature as much as possible.

And now here was her mother, trying to take that all away so that they could go to a fancy party. How could she even wonder at Toph's running away? Just as freedom seemed near, Little Iroh rolled into Toph's escape route, and she couldn't help herself; she swooped down to pick him up, giving Poppy the split second she needed to catch up.

Though her daughter was nearly eighteen years old now, Poppy had no trouble grabbing her by ear and dragging her back to her bedroom. "You are going to clean yourself off, and you are going to look proper for the Earth King's birthday party," Poppy lectured Toph, who was still holding her little brother in her arms. He laughed as he witnessed his sister's mistreatment at the hands of their mother, and Toph glared at him.

"Don't think I won't drop you," she growled at him, but when he smiled right at her, she forgave him everything.

"The Earth King wanted you especially to be there," Poppy was saying, as she combed out Toph's hair. Toph winced as the comb passed through the many tangles, and she thought about cutting it short again. "He really likes you, you know. I can't fathom why that might be, but he does," Poppy went on. "So you could at least make a little effort."

"Yes mother," Toph said dutifully, and she sat still while Poppy combed her hair. "But, don't you have to dress up too?" she asked after a few minutes, and Poppy started.

"That's right! Why didn't you say something earlier?" Poppy took little Iroh from Toph's arms and hurried out of the room. She stopped at the door to glare at Toph. "Don't move from that spot; I'm sending a maid to help you get ready."

Toph sighed and stared at the mirror. She reached out and touched it's smooth surface, and then with a smile, she twisted her fingers and bent the glass out of shape. It was all the same to her after all.


	2. How Not to Behave at a Royal Party

The Earth King was in high spirits that night. He stood up and drew everyone's attention to himself several times that night, just to say, "Welcome everybody! Please, relax and enjoy yourselves!"

"How am I supposed to relax when I can't move my head for fear of displacing something?" Toph muttered to herself. She was about to turn her head to acknowledge Sokka's derisive snort, when she remembered he wasn't there. She sighed inwardly at herself. She really had to stop doing that. She and Sokka had travelled together for so long though, that she could practically hear him laughing, even now.

Only, that laughter didn't sound like Sokka's. She forced herself not to frown as she turned towards the one laughing at her.

"You're pretty funny," the boy said. He had a pleasant enough voice, not very deep, but not so nasally as Sokka's. When he stepped towards her she could see that he wasn't really a boy – he was almost as tall as Sokka, and heavier. "Hi, I'm Junjie Zheng," he greeted her, holding out his hand.

She grinned and shook his hand, squeezing just tight enough to make him uncomfortable. "I'm Toph Bei Fong."

He laughed softly. "I know who you are," he said. "I haven't been living under a rock."

Toph shrugged. "Well, you never know. I try to spend as much time as possible living under rocks myself," she told him. Before he had time to respond the Earth King got up again and called everyone's attention to the front.

"Welcome! Welcome! I have an important announcement to make, so if everyone could just seat themselves…" he said loudly. Toph tried unsuccessfully to suppress a grin as she noticed how few chairs were handy at the moment, and the uncomfortable, stately rush to take what few seats were available, if only to do as the king said. One if the king's advisors stepped in to inform the king about the shortage of chairs, and Toph had to bite her knuckle to keep from bursting out laughing. She didn't hold herself back for her own sake, but for her parents, who were trying to go back to a normal life (or what they had once considered a normal life) since their daughter came out as the most powerful Earth Bender in the world.

"Never mind that," the king said absently, "I have something important to say!" The room grew quiet, except for the rustle of skirts on the marble floor, and the steps of servants working in the background.

"We are all gathered here today to celebrate my birthday, but what is a birthday, really, but a reminder of one's mortality?" the King began by saying, and Toph was already excited. This speech sounded promising. A murmur passed through the room, but the King held up his arms and everyone grew silent again.

"Growing old, dying… These things are all a part of human life," he went on. "But I have been thinking on these things lately, more than usual, and I decided it was time for me to name my heir." With these words, the tension in he room shot through the roof. Since he had no children of his own, the king could name any one as his heir. Though he had cousins and other relatives, rumor had it he was just as likely to name one of his advisors as heir to the throne, or another noble who happened to be his favorite. The noble families had long spoken of the King's heir, but they had spent many yeas gossiping about it with no gratification. Here, at last, was their answer.

"And then I thought to myself, what better time to do it than tonight, when I have all my court gathered around me?" he asked. He looked around the room and laughed, and threw his hands in the air. "Well, I won't keep you in suspense any longer; I will name my heir now. And I name Bosco."

There was a brief moment after the King spoke, when some nobles started to applaud automatically, and they were joined by Bosco, the crown prince, the king's beloved bear, but the nobles' applause was random and confused and it soon petered out into silence, and only the bear was left applauding, his muffled, furry applause.

And in the silence that followed, everyone could hear Toph guffawing.


	3. A Bear As King

"I can't believe you!" Poppy raged. "I thought you were behaving so well all night, and then-!" she couldn't even finish her sentence, she was so outraged.

"I think Bosco will make a fine king!" Toph argued playfully. "If anyone dares to stand against him he can eat them!" She was still giggling; she'd been having a hard time stopping since Bosco was named heir of the Earth Kingdom.

"Stop it!" Poppy snapped, and Toph bit her lip. Poppy was silent for a moment, watching the streets pass by. She had rushed in to take Toph home soon after the Earth King's announcement, hoping to flee back to Gaoling as quickly as possible, before the wrath of the other noble families' gossip could descend on them. Now she sat across from Toph in their carriage on the way back to the Kang's house, and Toph almost regretted laughing, if it caused her mother so much pain. But at length, Poppy spoke again, and she said, "You know Bosco would never eat a human anyway. He's going to make a terrible king." And they both burst into laughter.

Beside them, Lao sighed.


	4. An Invitation From the King

The house was in a mess, and everything was half packed when the Kyoshi warriors showed up at the door. Toph had heard them knocking at the Kang's front door, and then making their way to the garden house, but she hadn't been sure how to tell her parents, so when they did knock at the door to the garden house, no one else was expecting them. "Don't worry; I'll get it," Toph told her parents, which of course, scared them more than anyone who might be at the door, so that they came with her to the door to see who it was.

Ty Lee was one of the three Kyoshi warriors who was at the door, but she stayed back and let the leader speak. "We're here to escort Toph Bei Fong to see the Earth King," she said gravely. She had a surprisingly deep voice for a girl, and was no doubt the most intimidating to hear of the three. Poppy let out a little squeak, which delighted Little Iroh into laughter.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lao asked indignantly. "What does the Earth King want with my daughter?"

"That, I can't say," the Kyoshi warrior responded. "My orders are only to bring her to the King."

"Can we come with her?" Poppy asked shyly.

"Of course we're going with her!" Lao exclaimed. "I'm not leaving my little girl to go alone!" Toph felt the urge to put her arm around her father. They didn't always get along, but it was nice to know he still thought of her as his little daughter, no matter how wrong he really was.

"Come on; let's go," Toph said, putting on a smile. She had no idea herself why the Earth King would want to see her. She doubted he was angry about last night's events, or that the Kyoshi warriors would bring her in for punishment. She was more curious than anything. "It wouldn't do to keep our good king waiting too long."


	5. It's Called A Joke

On the way to the palace Toph had a chance to walk with Ty Lee and speak with her. She was still leery of Ty Lee – she supposed she would always be leery of someone who had the power to disconnect her from her bending – but for all intents and purposes Ty Lee was reformed and dedicated to the Kyoshi warriors. She had been with them for several years now. And Ty Lee was likable enough as a person, though too bubbly and chatty for Toph's taste. But then, Ty Lee reminded Toph of Sokka in some ways, so it wasn't so bad after all.

"The King asked for us personally," Ty Lee explained. "We just came to Ba Sing Se a week ago, and we've been staying in the palace. He says he has some special job for us, but he hasn't told us what it is yet." She squealed a little with excitement and skipped a little. Toph found it hard to believe this bubbly little thing was twenty years old, but then, she supposed some people never grew up. "I don't mind staying at the palace at all though! Bosco is so much fun! And since we're not too busy, I got to go to the zoo for the first time!"

Toph grinned, and she said, "Aang made the zoo, you know, when we first came here." Ty Lee was impressed by this knowledge, and they started to chat about the zoo, until they reached the palace, and Ty Lee put on her work face.

Lao had been grumbling all the way to the palace, but once they were inside he became silent and apprehensive. Toph could hear his heart beating quickly, and she thought about taking his hand, but thought better of it. He wouldn't appreciate being treated like a child by his own daughter.

The Kyoshi warriors led them through the palace to a small office behind the throne room. The Earth King was seated at a low desk at one end of the room, flanked by two guards, and conferring softly with one of his advisors. He fell silent before the Kyoshi warriors even knocked at the door, and Toph had to wonder at this. What secrets did the king hide?

"Your majesty; Toph Bei Fong," said the warrior with the deep voice, and they moved to the side so that Toph could step forward. "Her family insisted on coming with her."

The Earth King nodded. "It's just as well; they should hear what I have to say as well."

Toph bowed to the king, and waited for him to speak.

"Last night, when I named Bosco as the heir to the Earth King's throne, you laughed," he said at last. "Why did you laugh?"

"Because it's funny," Toph said plainly. She didn't know why she had to explain this to him. "Bosco might have the best of intentions, but how will anyone understand him?" She nearly cracked up again, imagining the councilors trying to figure out what the bear was trying to say.

The Earth King smiled and nodded. "I didn't call you here to berate you," he told her. "I called you here because I'm not naming Bosco as the heir, not really. That was a joke that didn't go over too well, but also a test of sorts."

Toph frowned. "A test?"

The Earth King nodded. "Yes. You're here now Toph because I want to name you as the next heir to the throne."


	6. Making a Fuss

In the flurry of activity that had followed the Earth King's announcement, Toph hadn't gotten a chance to refuse the offer. If she had been given a moment of quiet to speak, she would have told him she had no interest in being king, but it was not to be. Everyone in the room gasped when the King spoke, and the advisor sitting in the room was quick to protest the Earth King's choice. Lao let out a little squeak and fell into a faint, and Poppy tried to catch him only to fall over under his weight. Toph slid a foot towards her to catch her parents before they fell to the floor, and the Earth King clapped happily at her earth bending while the advisor grumbled about Toph abusing the building. As soon as that situation had been taken care of, Ty Lee jumped on Toph and squealed happily for her. Toph tried to pry her off without much success, and then, before she could get another word out, the King dismissed them all.

"Don't worry about it too much for now," he told Toph. "We'll speak again tomorrow. For now, you can move into the wing of the palace reserved for the heir."

And before she could get another word out she was whisked away in the small crowd of people who returned with her to the Kang's house.

Now she sat in her own room, with the sounds of the house, her parents arguing, the servants packing, muffled by the walls, and she didn't know what to do. She looked as deep into the earth as she could, drawing calm from the solid stone, and she took a deep breath. Once she felt calm she gave a little more thought to being heir to the Earth King's throne.

She thought, "Once I'm King, I'll be able to do whatever I want. No one will be able to tell me what to do anymore."

She thought, "On second thought, this might be a lot of fun!"


	7. Moving In

She had moved into the palace within the week, and made the place as much her own as she could. She had several boulders moved into her room to make it feel a little homier, and delighted in the disapproving mutters she elicited from the servants and nobles around her.

She had sought out the Earth King the day after his announcement, only to learn that he was no longer at the palace. The King's second advisor, Guanyin, didn't seem to like Toph much, judging by the cold way in which she spoke to Toph. "He has gone to his summer palace in Dongfang, and will not be available for some time, but he has left me in charge of your education in his stead."

Toph frowned. "Why did he leave?" she asked. "He said we would talk."

"You may talk with him when he returns," Guanyin said. "Until then, I will teach you what you need to know in order to become the Earth King one day."

Toph just sighed and shrugged. She had figured there must be something to being King, but how hard could it be? She'd have to learn how to dance maybe, maybe learn a little administrative work, but the king was just a figurehead, so she didn't expect to have much work to do.

It didn't take her long to realize how wrong she was. Guanyin brought her into a study, in the heir's wing of the palace, and they got right down to it, starting with geography. That much, Toph could handle – after spending a few years traveling around the country with Sokka she had a good idea of what the country looked like. As Guanyin quizzed her she would add in little details about the people who lived there, or some local delicacy, just to emphasize that she had really been there. She doubted Guanyin had been outside the walls of Ba Sing Se in her life.

When Guanyin was satisfied with Toph's knowledge of the country, or when she had gotten sick of her smart-alecky attitude, they moved on to etiquette. This too, Toph knew fairly well, though she never bothered using that knowledge. And then, Guanyin expected a much higher level of knowledge of the rules of civility than had ever been asked of Toph before. It was quite sickening, and Toph was glad when Guanyin decided she'd had enough.

When the lesson was over Guanyin called for the Kyoshi warriors, and Toph dreaded what was to come next, but it wasn't so bad. "These Kyoshi warriors will be your bodyguards until the Earth King arrives," Guanyin told her. "He thought you would rather have these three with you than the palace guards," she said; evidently she didn't agree with the King on this matter, but she hadn't been able to change his mind. With a little huff of impatience, she swept out of the room, leaving them alone.

Ty Lee grinned and gave a little wave to Toph. "This is pretty cool!" she said.

Toph nodded, and she turned to the other two warriors. "I guess if we're going to be together, I should know your names at least."

The girl with the deep voice bowed and said, "My name is Bao, my lady. And this is Fei Yen," she added, gesturing to the other girl, who was smaller than the other two, and lighter on her feet than even Ty Lee. "She doesn't speak much," Bao explained.

"Nice to meet you all, and I hope we can get along and have some fun," Toph said.


	8. Making Friends

It wasn't long before Toph was ambushed by nobles looking for her support, or her abdication. In fact, the very afternoon she came to the palace she found herself cornered by a lord, looking down on her for becoming the heir.

"The only reason you got the position," he said acidly, "is that you laughed at the stupid bear."

Toph glared in his general direction and said, "You're not very smart, are you? First you insult the girl who will one day be your king, and then you call Bosco stupid. That bear is smarter than you will ever be." She turned to Bao and asked, "Do you know this guy's name?"

"Lord Zheng," Bao told her flatly.

"Good. Remember his name. I'll write it in my black book later," Toph said, and she felt the lord's heartbeat speed up. She walked past him without saying goodbye, laughing at his stupidity. It had been a while since anyone but Sokka believed she could write.

Dinner was a harrowing experience, what with all the people who suddenly wanted to be her friend. It had been like this just after war ended too, just after she became an international hero, but before people knew about her abrasive personality. She could hardly stand the crush of people's desires on her, the noise all around of people trying to get her attention, trying to compliment her, to make themselves known to her.

She was just glad when it was over.

She retreated to the library, hoping it would be empty, but there was only one person in there, so she went anyway. She asked the Kyoshi warriors to leave her alone for a bit, and at first they argued – "We're not supposed to let you out of our sight," Bao protested, - but Toph convinced them she could take care of herself, on account of having done so for the past six years, and she sat down alone among the stacks of scrolls and books.

"That's funny, I never pegged you for an avid reader," said the man who was in the library with her. She remembered meeting him before, from the King's birthday party, but she couldn't remember his name at all.

"I'm only here for the quiet," Toph explained, waving her hand in front of her face before she remembered it was unnecessary. She was just so used to making fun of Sokka, it was hard to get out of the habit.

"Oh sorry, I'll leave you alone then," he said. Toph frowned, trying to remember his name, but she was still coming up blank.

"No, it's fine, you can stay," Toph answered. "Just don't ask me to meet your son, and don't compliment my hair, and don't ask me to talk to the King about your claim to your neighbor's land."

He laughed, and she started to get really annoyed that she couldn't remember his name. "Having fun with the nobility then?" he said.

"I don't remember your name," Toph blurted out. "What was it again?"

"Ah, Junjie," he said after a moment. "Junjie Zheng."

"Zheng?" Toph frowned. The name sounded familiar, and not because she had met this guy before. "Ah! You're not related to that Lord Zheng are you?" she asked.

Junjie shuffled his feet a little and said, "Yes, well, he is my uncle." His body tensed up, and he stopped breathing regularly.

Toph shrugged. "You can't choose your family right?"

"Right," he said, and the tension in his body released. Toph grinned; she had never thought to use her power to understand people like this before. She began to think of all the possibilities. So many people to manipulate…

"So what brings you to the library?" she asked him.

"Can't you tell?" he asked wryly. "I'm a huge nerd, that's what." He started to talk about what he was interested in at the moment – he was studying ships – and Toph sat back to listen. He reminded her of Sokka, the way he got excited about ideas, and she decided she liked this Junjie guy.


	9. The Conditions of the Separation

She and Sokka had split up a few months ago, when he returned to the South Pole for Gran-Gran's funeral. They had been camping out at the base of a volcano when Aang and Katara found them, and told Sokka the news; that Gran-Gran was sick, that she might not make it. The four of them flew together down to the South Pole, and within a couple days Gran-Gran was gone. Toph had spent her time at the South Pole feeling sick and alone, and crying her eyes out for her friends', and her own, loss. She felt silly, crying so much when she had only met the old woman a few times, but she had heard so many stories from Katara and Sokka that she felt she had known Gran-Gran intimately, and she could hardly believe that she would never have the chance to speak with her again.

It was strange, how she hadn't felt sad to leave the South Pole, even if she wasn't sure she'd ever meet these people again, because she had felt so certain they would go on with their lives, and there was always the possibility to see them again. But with death, there was no more chance of meeting again in this life, and all she had were her memories, and that's all Gran-Gran would be, or could ever be to her now.

After staying in the South Pole a week, feeling useless and unable to help Sokka and Katara with their grief, as well as feeling helpless on the ice, Toph returned to Gaoling, leaving Sokka behind to take care of things in his village. She hadn't heard from him since.

It was very frustrating, when she thought of him so often, but she had no idea what he was up to. She wished he were there; what a kick he would get out of this situation now! But she hadn't known what to say when she left the South Pole, and it had been awkward, to leave him behind, to say goodbye when he was hurting. She'd felt like a coward for not staying, but she felt it was better for him to be able to sort himself out.

"Sorry, am I boring you?" Junjie asked.

Toph shook her head. He wasn't boring her exactly, but she was having a hard time concentrating. She didn't tell him that though, she already felt kind of bad for not remembering him. "It's just that I'm not a big fan of boats," she told him. "I get very, very seasick."

"Is it because you can't see on a boat?" he asked.

Toph nodded. "There's that. But mostly it has to do with the constant motion, being tossed about on the waves. Who invented that kind of transportation? – It's sick."

Junjie laughed. "It was pretty genius, really. If it weren't for ships we wouldn't know about the rest of the world; we'd all be completely separate nations."

"There wouldn't have been a war," Toph pointed out.

"No, but you would never have met the Avatar either," Junjie argued. "Or anyone from the water tribes."

Toph sighed. "You know, you don't have to convince me of ships' importance. I am aware of it, despite my misgivings. But I still don't like them."

"Fair enough," Junjie said. "Maybe I'll spend more time learning about other vehicles then, and I can talk your ear off about a mode of transportation you don't hate."

Toph grinned. "I'd like that."


	10. The Earth King's Plan

"I don't understand why I need to learn to use chopsticks all over again! What possible use could I have for this nonsense?"

"The way you use chopsticks is appalling! I nearly lost my dinner last night when I looked up at you!"

"Well I am blind – cut me some slack!"

"Ha! You can't use your 'blindness' as an excuse anymore! Not when it made you 'the greatest earthbender in the world'!"

Suki coughed quietly from her place in the doorway, observing this heated exchange between Toph and Guanyin. She hadn't wanted to interrupt, but she didn't see the argument coming to an end anytime soon, and so she spoke up at last.

Guanyin and Toph both turned towards Suki, though only Guanyin really turned her crazed gaze on her. Suki smiled, seeing Toph's blank eyes staring into space. It had been a long time since she'd seen Toph, and she hadn't realized until now that she missed the scrappy little girl.

"Sorry to interrupt," Suki said, "but I came to speak with Toph. I've just come from the Earth King's villa; he wanted me to come and do so."

Toph was a little surprised when Guanyin put up no fight, but nodded and left her alone with Suki. She was a little disappointed really.

"I see you and Guanyin get along well," Suki said flippantly.

Toph grinned. "We have a healthy back and forth relationship," she said. She leaned in closer to Suki and added quietly, "Don't tell her this, but she's one of my favorites around here. It's nice to have someone who will properly argue with me, and not simper and flatter me and ask favors."

Suki nodded sympathetically, though her own experience in the royal palace had been quite different. But then, she was in no position to be granting favors here, and so she was of no interest to those nobles who would bother Toph.

"Anyway, Suki, what are you doing here?" Toph asked, not in an unfriendly manner.

"Well, I work for the King now," Suki explained. She didn't tell many people about her job, so she didn't expect Toph to know. "I'm his eyes and ears around the Earth Kingdom, one of many."

"You're a spy?" Toph asked. She looked more excited than suspicious, and Suki nearly laughed.

"It's not what you're imagining I'm sure," she said. "I check up on villages and people, to see how well the kingdom is faring, crops, taxes, governments etc. I don't do any of the cool spying stuff, digging up dirt on people, or dressing up and sneaking into fancy parties. Not really. But that is why the King wanted me to speak with you, to tell you his plan."

"Oooh, a plan? This sounds good."

Suki frowned at Toph, and wondered what exactly had possessed the Earth King to name her as heir. She liked Toph, and she was well aware of how powerful she was, but she was a child, an eternal child. Suki wondered if she would be able to be serious if the kingdom needed her to be. She sighed and pushed her doubts away.

"The Earth Kingdom has become divided. It used to be one kingdom under the Earth King, now it is city-states and walled cities, and towns living disconnected from the rest of us. There is no cohesion; that's why the Fire Nation was able to invade so easily during the war. If there was some more communication between the kingdom, at the very least…"

"The King wants to take over the Earth Kingdom?" Toph asked. "But he doesn't even have any real power."

Suki shrugged. "That's not exactly true. But well… He doesn't want to be ruler of the Earth Kingdom, not really. But he's right when he says we should be more united. He won't start a war or anything, don't worry about that. We're just trying to put in place some more efficient structures to keep the kingdom together. In case there is another invasion, we would be able to work together better, and then, in everyday life, we could get help to people who need it, or build roads, or create subsidies where they need to be."

Toph nodded. She could see the wisdom in all this, but all the same, she found it quite boring. "So what am I supposed to do about this anyway?"

"Oh just… watch. And learn. Whatever you feel you can."


	11. Needed Like Another Appendix

Toph had a headache when she finally made it back to her room that night. She felt like everyone wanted something from her, everyone expected so much…

"I miss Sokka," she muttered to herself, too embarrassed to admit it to anyone else.

She fell asleep with a heavy heart, and dreamed of flying. She couldn't see, but she thought she could smell Appa's fur.

There was someone on the ceiling when she woke up.

Before she had time to think about the situation, she had wrapped herself in earth, pulling the boulders around her and making a shell, just in time to keep the assassin's daggers out.

Toph frowned and concentrated for a second, but she didn't recognize the assailant. It was an earthbender though, and in another second she was fighting to keep her protection. "Well fine, we can play it that way," Toph muttered, and she stood up and fought back. Just as she got up, the door opened and the Kyoshi warriors rushed in, and the assassin jumped out the window. Toph rushed to the window and prepared herself to trap his feet when he landed, but he never did. She sensed a rustling in the trees, and some people out for a stroll in the courtyard, but she couldn't decide which vibrations, if any, were those of the would-be killer. She growled and turned to the warriors. "Did you see him? Where is he going?"

Ty Lee shook her head. "I just heard you in here, we got here as soon as we could but… He's gone."

"Damn!"

"Um…" Bao spoke softly. "It was an assassin?"

Toph nodded, but it hadn't really sunk in until Bao said it. An assassin. After her life. She sunk to the ground and rested her head against the wall. "Man, seriously? Now I have to worry about this kind of thing too?"

Ty Lee knelt beside her and put her hand on Toph's shoulder. "Don't worry; we'll be much more careful now. And I don't really believe anyone could get you."

"It's not that," Toph told her. "I'm not worried about that really. It's just…" She sighed, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. "I mean, please… I'm only the heir because I laughed at the bear. This is so not what I need."

Ty Lee laughed, and Toph turned to glare at her. She stopped laughing, but she tried to explain. "It's just, no one needs people out to kill them. Saying that is kind of ridiculous, don't you think?"

Toph didn't think she wanted to, but she laughed. She laughed until her sides hurt.


	12. That Was An Awkward Day

"Don't tell anyone else about this," was Suki's counsel, on hearing about the assassination attempt. When Toph frowned, Suki knew what she would ask, so she explained, "If it was someone at court who wanted your position, then it's best not to speak about it too much, in case they decide to run. I'll stay here with you, and keep an eye out, and we'll see if we can't find out who would do such a thing."

"I can think of at least one guy who wants me gone," Toph said, and she told Suki about Lord Zheng.

"It's possible, but I doubt he would try anything like this," Suki said. "He's too much of a coward to try to have you killed. I'll keep my eye on him anyway."

Toph sighed and rubbed her temples. She'd had a headache all day. "Thank you Suki."

"No problem; you know I'm here for you if ever you need me," Suki said, and she gave Toph an awkward hug. For some reason Toph thought back to that day years ago, when they had been crossing the Serpent's pass and Suki fished her out of the water. She wanted to kiss her, and this time not because she thought she was Sokka.

"I should get going," Toph finally said. "Guanyin will be pissy if I'm too late for my lessons."


	13. A New Rival Perhaps

She liked to go out into the hedge maze, when she had time. It was usually quiet, except for the few young couples and cheating nobles who liked to meet there. That was fun too; she could usually scare them off with a well-placed stone, or spooky noises in the bushes. She had grand plans for this garden, to have it known around the court as a haunted place where none dared enter.

The Kyoshi warriors liked to stay nearby, but they respected Toph's wishes for a little privacy – it was so hard to come by in the palace, she sometimes wanted to scream, or to burrow down into the earth where no one could get her.

She was feeling kind of lonely this day, since her family had just left for Gaoling yesterday. They thought she was happily settled in the palace (she wouldn't have told them about the assassination attempt, even without Suki's recommendation) and they were content to leave her to her business now. Her parents had long since fully accepted her independence, and they let her do as she wished. She didn't tell them she wanted them to stay. She had thought it might be safer for them to be out of Ba Sing Se, where people plotted and conspired and hired killers.

She was a little surprised to meet Junjie in the gardens. Somehow, he didn't seem the type – but then, she suspected she had been projecting Sokka's personality onto him since they met in the library. She really didn't know him that well after all. He was walking with another young man, and Toph grinned as she constructed a little stone beast to scuttle across their path and surprise them. Were they perhaps another unwitting couple?

Junjie jumped a little at the sight, but his companion was unfazed. "Did you see that?" Junjie asked nervously.

His companion answered in a dry, deep voice. "A joke I suspect, judging from its construction. Nothing to worry yourself over."

Toph wasn't sure whether to laugh or to be frustrated with this new pragmatic fellow, and so, determined to meet him, she stepped out onto the path.

"Oh! Good evening my lady Toph," Junjie said, when he saw it was she, and he bowed. The other man bowed as well. "Have you met Huang yet?" he asked, gesturing to his friend.

Toph checked him out for a moment, but he didn't ring any bells. "Probably," she said plainly, "but I don't remember if I did, sorry." She noticed, she was still no good at sounding remorseful.

"I just arrived in Ba Sing Se," Huang told her, so she hadn't forgotten him. "I've been in the Fire Nation studying at the university in the capital."

"Ah, how are things there?" Toph asked coolly. She wasn't really interested, but she felt she had to make conversation. Besides, if this Huang was friends with Junjie he couldn't be all that bad.

"They were well when I left," he replied. His voice was very flat and inexpressive, and she had a hard time reading him, but she got the feeling that he resented her for some reason. "Fire Lord Zuko is a good ruler."

"He's alright," Toph muttered noncommittally. She still had mixed feelings about Zuko, since he still never visited his uncle. When she thought about Iroh though, she felt annoyed with herself suddenly, for not having been to visit him yet, not since before the Earth King's birthday. 'I'm still not as bad as Zuko,' she reasoned with herself, but then, he had the excuse of an ocean between them. She made up her mind to visit Iroh's teahouse the next day, no matter what.

"I should go," Huang said, and Toph remembered she had been talking with someone. "I have yet to unpack my things." He bowed slightly to Toph – not quite as deeply as her rank required, but she wasn't going to be a stickler about etiquette now – and he said his goodbye to Junjie and left the two of them standing in the garden. Toph listened to his footsteps moving away for some time, and smiled a little when she saw that he got a bit lost in the labyrinth.

"What are you laughing at?" Junjie asked, and she shrugged.

"I just thought of my old friend," she lied. "So, what's with that Huang guy?"

"What do you mean, what's with him?"

"I mean, what's his story? Why did he go to the Fire Nation to study? Was he unpopular here?"

Junjie shrugged. "Kind of… Huang is the Earth King's nephew. We went to school together when we were little kids, but he was always getting into fights with the other kids. They would bully him because of his uncle; they'd say he was treated specially because of his rank. And some teachers did treat him differently, but if anything they treated him worse than the rest of us. They expected a lot more of him, and then, he had to take all these extra classes and lessons while the rest of us did what we wanted and played. His mother has been molding him to be the future Earth King all his life; that's why she sent him to the Fire Nation, so he could learn about our new allies." He stopped speaking suddenly, and laughed. "Listen to me, gossiping on and on about him!"

Top rubbed her chin and looked for Huang again, but she didn't recognize his footfall anymore among all the others in the palace. "They must have been very upset, when I was named the heir," she said thoughtfully.

"Maybe his mother, but I think Huang is relieved," Junjie answered. "Or at least, I don't think he's very angry. He's always seemed to accept whatever life throws his way without complaint."


	14. Tea with Iroh

As she sat chatting with Iroh, Toph wondered why she hadn't come to see him earlier. Just being around him made her feel so relaxed and comfortable, and somehow safe. Not in the physical sense, as she wasn't ever really worried about her health, but emotionally safe. There was no danger with Iroh, that he would say hurtful things, or take offense at her.

They talked for hours, and laughed and laughed. He seemed to take it as a matter of course that she would become heir to the Earth King's throne, and when she tried to argue, he patiently told her, "You are a sensible choice, as much as anyone else. Your personality doesn't matter so much – just think of King Bumi, or the Earth King himself," this last bit he whispered, as though there were spying ears all around them, and to call the Earth King odd was treacherous, "and you can see that personality quirks don't ruin you as a ruler. It's your desire to be good to your country, and your strength, and therefore ability, to do so – that's what really matters."

Toph smiled. She still wasn't convinced, but Iroh made the best argument for her being king that she had yet to hear. "I wonder if I have the right kind of strength," she said.

Iroh shrugged. "That remains to be seen."

They talked about the people she had met at the palace. He liked the sound of Guanyin, "Next time you come, I will make you the tea called Guanyin, and you will think better of her," he promised. Toph laughed; it was easy to make Iroh like you – just have the same name as a tea.

When she told him about Huang, he was quiet for a bit. "You should get to know him better I think," he advised her. "I'm not going to suggest that he is dangerous, but I do think you would do well to be friends with him, if you can. If he really has been groomed to be king, he will understand what you're going through, and he can probably give you pointers."

Toph nodded. Everything Iroh said sounded so reasonable and wise, though sometimes she wondered if that had more to do with his logic, or his deep voice. "You should come visit me at the palace sometime too," she said at last, when the Kyoshi warriors got up from their table across the teahouse and gestured that it was time to go. "The gardens are really nice; I think you'd like them. And I'll get the cooks to make all our favorite dishes."

Iroh laughed gently. "You don't have to convince me," he told her. "I would be honored to visit the heir to the throne." He winked at her. "And it will be great for business too, if I have your endorsement."


	15. Tea With Suki

"What do you think of Huang?" Toph asked Suki, as they had their afternoon tea. She and Suki got together for tea every few days, to talk about state affairs and to catch up. Being with Suki reminded Toph of older, simpler days. Days when she didn't have to deal with all these politics, only the defeat of the Fire Lord.

"I don't know him very well; he's been in the Fire Nation since before I came to Ba Sing Se to work for the king. What I've heard of him has been mostly positive, though there are some who call him over-ambitious. Most of what I hear about him is more about his mother, really. Why? Do you think he's dangerous?" she asked.

Toph shook her head. "No, I don't know… I only just met him, and I don't know what to make of him. Do you think he might be dangerous?"

"I'll check him out," Suki said. "There's been nothing about Lord Zheng, by the way. I don't think you need to worry about him, other than as an annoyance."

Toph sighed and pulled on her ears, feeling frustrated. "I wish Sokka was here…" she muttered. He probably wouldn't help much, but they could have some fun at least.

"Well, why don't you invite him then?" Suki asked. Toph grimaced at her own thoughtlessness; she hadn't meant to bring Sokka up around Suki.

"I… I don't know that I can," she said. "What would he do here anyway?"

Suki shrugged, and said no more about it.


	16. A Matter of Inheritance

"… so you see why my claim is legitimate and-"

Toph whirled on the noble who was tagging along, trying to get her help, and she yelled, "Look! Even if I was King, don't think that annoying me all the time will get you what you want! It doesn't work that way! I don't like to be bothered, and I don't like you, and I don't even know you, so piss off!"

The noblewoman stared at Toph in shock for a minute, and then her brow creased sadly, and she bowed. "Please forgive me," she said softly, and she left.

Toph watched her go with a sick feeling in her gut. Guilt, how she hated guilt. She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm going to wear down my forehead with all this massaging I do these days," she muttered, and she turned to go back on her way, to find that Huang was standing in the hallway. She grimaced, and wondered how long he had been standing there before she noticed him.

They stood there for a moment in silence. Toph was waiting for him to speak, to say something snide about her rudeness, and how she could never be king, and then she could respond in kind. His silence was more infuriating than anything he could say to her – what did it mean?

Finally she shook her head and made to leave, and he spoke.

"You are wise not to involve yourself in the nobles' disputes for land, for the most part," he said softly. His voice reminded her of the paws of badger moles, of being in a tunnel. It always sounded sort of muffled, like there was something strong going on underneath. "Lady Mao has been wronged by Lord Liang though."

"Really? How's that?" Toph asked, somewhat testily.

"Her land was taken over during the war, and when it was won back, a good deal of it was claimed by Lord Liang right out from under her, and the affair has never been sorted out."

"How does this sort of thing happen in the first place?" Toph asked. She still couldn't understand politics; she hated how it always seemed to work against common sense.

"Lady Mao had to flee the fire nation when the Fire Nation took over her land. She went into hiding, and by the time she returned to her lands, they had been taken over by Lord Liang, who was to inherit her lands if she died, as she has no heir. When she showed up again, she got most of her land back, but Lord Liang won't give back the area to the east, mostly mining lands, and Lady Mao doesn't have enough power to do anything about it on her own."

Toph nodded along as he spoke. He had a good voice, she decided; it made things clear and easy to understand, though she still didn't see what she was supposed to do about it. "What can I do though? Who is the one who would decide these things? I can't even speak to the Earth King on her behalf, because he's not here," she told him, frustrated with the King for leaving her alone for so long with no guidance. "And surely, if he was going to do anything about it, he would have done so by now."

Huang shook his head. "It's not up to him," he said. "Or, I don't believe the matter has ever made it to his ears. The one in charge of land distribution is Dong Lin, and he is a great friend of Lord Liang. It is unlikely he would grant Lady Mao her lands, or pass the matter on to the King. Lady Mao has come to Ba Sing Se with the intention of speaking to someone else about it, someone who can help her."

Toph frowned suddenly. "How do you know all this anyway? You just got back from the Fire Nation didn't you?" she asked suspiciously.

Huang shrugged. "I'm a good listener," he said. "And I've been taught to pay attention to everything that's going on around me, to know who's doing what. I-" he stopped suddenly, and shook his head. "Never mind," he sighed. "I've wasted enough of your time," he said, and he bowed.

"No wait!" Toph grabbed his sleeve before he could leave. "Are you free?"

"I…"

"Oh damn, I have to go meet Guanyin now," Toph muttered, but she didn't let go of his sleeve, in case he tried to run. "I have a class right now," she told him, "but I would like to talk with you some more, if that's all right. Later tonight?"

"Yes, that's fine," Huang answered flatly.

"Awesome! Thanks man," she said, before running off. Guanyin was so unpleasant when she was late.


	17. Earth King Aang

During class that day, she asked Guanyin about Lady Mao and Lord Liang, and found that Huang had been right in all he said. She asked Guanyin about Huang then.

"If he had been here for the King's birthday party, do you think he might have been named heir?" she asked. "What if I wasn't there?"

Guanyin shook her head, annoyed with Toph's line of questioning. Annoyed with everything about Toph no doubt; she had been interrupting Guanyin's class with all kinds of questions today, and none of them had to do with taxes, that day's lesson.

"I don't know what goes on inside the King's head!" Guanyin snapped. "It's impossible to know what made him choose you, or why he chose to do it that night."

"That's why I asked, what do _you_ think?" Toph said, knowing it would annoy Guanyin, and wondering if she would realize that it meant Toph respected her opinion, despite whatever differences they might have.

Guanyin was silent for a while, and she sighed. "I think… I think the Earth King was wary of naming Huang heir. He's a very capable young man, but if he was named heir there would be more nobles upset and fighting over it, not that you can ever stop nobles from fighting," she said with a snort, which Toph matched. Guanyin covered her mouth; shocked that such a Toph-like noise had come out of her. She went on, "Naming you heir was the neutral choice I think. You're not related to him, so there is no question of other family members asking to be made king, or trying to get the position through inheritance, and you're already a hero around the country, so you have that influence."

"And if I wasn't around? Would it have been Huang?"

"I don't know… Probably. Knowing the Earth King, though, he might have tried to name Avatar Aang as the heir."

Toph laughed. "He probably would have been a better choice! And if he had been at the birthday party, he would have laughed at Bosco too."


	18. Chatting with Huang and Junjie

She was only a little surprised when Junjie showed up with Huang. When they both came into Toph's study room, they bowed deeply, and Huang immediately started to apologize. "I told him I was meeting with you later, and he insisted on coming along. I tried to stop him, but short of tying him down, there was nothing I could do."

"So you don't like being tied up then?" Toph asked, trying to sound innocent.

Junjie shook his head. "Why do I feel like you have your mind in the gutter right now?" he wondered. "And here I was thinking _you_ two were up to something obscene."

"Am I the only one who thought nothing of the sort?" Huang asked.

Toph and Junjie nodded, and they burst out laughing. "Anyway, take a seat guys – I didn't intend for our meeting to be secret or anything. I just never thought of Junjie," Toph said, gesturing to the chairs across from her desk.

"Ouch. My heart!" Junjie clutched his chest and writhed in pretend pain.

"So what did you want to talk about then?" Huang asked, ignoring his friend.

"Well, for starters, I'd like to talk about Lady Mao," Toph said. "Do you think I should get involved in this case? What can I do anyway?"

"Has no one told you? Isn't there anyone who can give you guidance, and tell you what power you do or do not have?" Huang asked. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I'm not sure that I'm the one who should be telling you this."

"And why not?" Junjie asked indignantly. "You know it all!"

"Which is exactly why I shouldn't be here," Huang hissed back. "You know as well as I what everyone says of my return-"

"I don't," Toph interrupted. She leaned forward and placed her elbows on her desk, folding her fingers together. "What does everyone say about your return?"

"They say… They say it comes at a very convenient time," Huang said slowly. "Inconvenient for some, such as yourself. They say I am only here to put pressure on you, to try to make you look bad or…" he trailed off.

"To off me?" Toph asked. Huang swallowed and nodded. He was uncomfortable, she could tell, but he wasn't being disingenuous, at least, she didn't think so. He could have been a very good liar, like Azula, but he really didn't seem the type. She leaned back in her chair and laughed loudly, more heartily than she felt, to put him at his ease.

"Funny, isn't it, how your return also coincides with the end of the university's semester?" she said. "Funny, that you would return to your home after completing a degree."

Huang breathed out a sigh of relief. "You have no reason to trust me," he said.

Toph shrugged. "I have no reason to trust anyone here, really," she pointed out. "I can hardly blame you for wanting to come home after being away for four years."

"Thank you," Huang said softly.

Toph grinned. "I mean personally, I would never go home if I didn't have to, but to each his own right?"


	19. Who wouldn't?

Huang wasn't what Toph had expected from their first meeting. He was actually pretty shy, and so he came off as cold sometimes. He was friendliest with Junjie, because, as Junjie later explained to Toph, they had always been friends, since their mothers were good friends.

Huang was a great help to Toph, as he was always willing to answer any of her questions, and she had _many_. She wondered at his patience, and his free time, and she ended up asking him what he did in Ba Sing Se.

"Well… not really anything, at this point. I'm well qualified to work in government, but my parents don't want me to get a job, and they've been interfering with my efforts to do so."

"Well what kind of job do you want?" Toph asked. "I'm the heir to the throne you know; I could get you any job you want, I'll bet."

Huang laughed. "I'll bet you could," he said, "but I'd rather you didn't. I'll find something to do with my life eventually. I don't need you to do anything for me."

Toph shrugged. "Whatever you want. I just feel like I should give you something in return for all your help. Cookies? Would you like cookies?"

"I would love cookies."


	20. Is This To Be My Life?

The Kiyoshi warriors left Toph alone when she had lessons with Guanyin, and when she was in the bath, otherwise they were pretty much always with her. Toph imagined it must have been boring for them to follow her around all the time, but even if she tried to send them off, or to have them leave her alone, they wouldn't listen.

She was in the middle of a lesson with Guanyin when she realized she had forgotten one of the books they were reading. Guanyin scolded her harshly and told her to hurry and get it. "If you dawdle I'll assign extra reading!" she threatened as Toph left the room.

She was about to go into her room when Toph heard Bao's deep voice, and she paused to listen.

"There was another one last night, out in the stables. Luckily I found this one before Toph could find out about him, but I don't think we can keep it from her for much longer," she said.

"I know we'll have to tell her eventually," Suki's voice replied, "I just wish we had more information before we bring the matter to her attention. She doesn't need to have to worry about this on top of everything else."

"That's just what she said the first time!" Ty Lee said with a laugh.

"This last one won't say anything either?" Suki asked grimly.

"His tongue was cut right out," Ty Lee answered, her voice sounding oddly cheerful. "He won't be giving us anything."

Suki made a noise of frustration. "There has to be some way to connect these people to their benefactor," she said. She shushed the other girls suddenly. "Do you hear something?"

Toph was gone before they could cross the room, halfway back to Guanyin's lesson. Her mind was racing. They must have been talking about other assassins; other attempts on her life she didn't even know about. She wondered if this is what life was like for the Earth King; if he just went about his life always one misstep from losing it, maybe without even knowing what was waiting for him. She groaned and shook her head, and before she knew it she was back in the study with Guanyin.

"You certainly took your time!" Guanyin growled. "And you don't even have your book with you! What were you doing?"

Toph just shook her head. She was too busy with her thoughts to do any studying, and Guanyin soon discovered this, and dismissed her from lessons, with extra homework of course.


	21. Battle in the Streets

Who could she turn to? Who could she ask for help? She wouldn't go to the Kiyoshi warriors, not if they weren't interested in sharing the information with her in the first place. But who could she trust? She probably couldn't ask anyone she had met in Ba Sing Se for advice, because who did she really know? She had met all the people here after becoming heir; everything could be an act.

She growled as she paced her room, throwing off the constricting costume of royal clothing as she did. She was beginning to really hate this place!

She made up her mind to go see Iroh, and she left her room, only to be faced with her three bodyguards. She sighed and shook her head. They would insist on coming, and then how was she supposed to discuss these sensitive matters with Iroh?

"Screw it," she muttered. "I'm going to see him anyway." She canceled all her meetings and lessons for the afternoon and went into town. At the very least, talking with Iroh was always relaxing.

She hadn't even gotten halfway there when the carriage was attacked. The earth rumbled and the carriage flipped, but Toph wasn't in it by the time it hit the ground. She dove out into the street, feeling oddly happy to have a chance to actually fight someone. There were two of them, both Earth benders, and she was going to enjoy fighting them face to face!

"You guys get that one!" Toph instructed her bodyguards, pointing one way. "This one's mine." She ripped up part of the street to form armor as she advanced on the would-be assassin, deflecting his shards of earth. She threw a couple of slabs at him, and he dodged them, jumping to the left and then the right, but when he touched down the second time he found the ground under him was no longer solid, and he sank into the street. Toph grinned, and he quickly turned the street solid again and kicked it towards her, but she slammed it to the ground and he found his neck suddenly surrounded by a thin rope of meteor stone.

"I wouldn't move if I were you," she said, her hand open, threatening to snap shut, snapping his neck with it. She checked on her bodyguards and saw they had neutralized the other attacker. "I wouldn't give me a excuse to hurt you any more," she told the man she had at her mercy. "I'm tired, and I hate politics, and I've been forced to wear shoes for a week now, so don't push me."

"I wasn't going to," he replied, surprisingly calm despite his dire situation.

"Oh good, you can speak," Toph said. "Then you won't mind telling me who sent you."

"No one sent me," he replied. Toph tightened her grip a little and knocked his head back against a nearby wall. "I'm not lying!" he spluttered, once he had recovered a little from the blow. "I just don't like you! You're a terrible person, and you're going to make a terrible king!"

Toph sighed and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Do I even want to know why you think I'm a terrible person?" she asked wearily.

"You ruined my life!" he replied. "First you destroy my house with your careless earthbending, and then you flooded the farm I worked so hard to get after that. Do you have any idea how much havoc you've wreaked across the land? You think you're so great, throwing mountains around, but the mountains are where they are for a reason! Your arrogance is only rivaled by your ignorance!"

"Ok, I've heard enough now," Toph said, and she dragged him back to her bodyguards. "You guys can take care of this," she told them, "I need a cup of tea."

"But we can't leave-" Ty Lee started to say.

"Me alone, yes I know," Toph answered. "Fei Yen, you come with me. Bao and Ty Lee, take these two back to the palace. Just… don't do anything to them until I get back."

The man started to yell at her again, but she just walked away, followed by her silent companion. His little rant had bothered her more than she let on, and he had ruined any good feelings she had from the fight. She really needed a cup of tea and a chat with Iroh now.


	22. Responsibily Sucks

"Am I brainless?" Toph wondered sullenly, hunched over her tea. "Am I really that careless?"

Fei Yen sat nearby, silently drinking tea; that was why Toph had invited her along as opposed to the other two. She knew Fei Yen wouldn't say anything, at least not to her face. She had never heard Fei Yen talk to the other Kyoshi warriors either, but that didn't mean she wouldn't ever.

Iroh raised an eyebrow at Toph, and she explained what had happened. When she had finished Iroh sat quietly for a long time before answering, "Do you remember what happened, what you were doing when you destroyed that man's home?"

Toph shook her head. "I tried to remember, but I can't think of anything. I move mountains a lot."

"Perhaps the first thing we should learn, before we do any bending, is to be aware of the world around us, and to know that every action you take will have consequences. It is in weighing the consequences of acting, and the consequences of not acting, that we must learn to show wisdom. In the case of powerful benders such as yourself, those consequences are even greater, so you must even wiser."

Toph sighed. "But I never wanted to be responsible," she grumbled.

She couldn't be sure, as there were a lot of customers in the shop that day and a lot of noise, but she thought she heard Fei Yen laugh.


	23. Toph is Irresistible

When she returned to the castle, all she wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for days, maybe weeks, but she wasn't given that chance. Everyone already knew about what had happened on the street – of course they did – and as soon as she walked into the courtyard she was surrounded. People worried about her health, worried about her mental state, people who wanted to have the attackers killed, others who wanted her to show mercy. Toph felt extremely annoyed; she would act how she wished, and she didn't need anyone to worry about her, not these people anyway.

She had never thought she could feel so happy to see Guanyin, but when the older woman stepped in to disperse the crowd, Toph happily followed her into the palace. Guanyin didn't speak as they walked through the halls and back to Toph's rooms. She didn't say anything until they were in the outer room of Toph's apartments, with the door closed behind them, and they were alone with the Kyoshi warriors.

Then, shockingly, Guanyin turned around and gave Toph a big hug. Toph had braced herself for a slap or something of the sort, so she wasn't prepared to deflect a hug. "Thank goodness you're alright," Guanyin said.

Toph was surprised at how much she had wanted a hug, and she wrapped her arms around Guanyin's solid body and sighed. She kind of wanted to cry, but she wasn't about to do that. She was being sentimental enough with the hugging.

It didn't last long anyway. Guanyin soon let go and pushed Toph back so that she could look at her. "Has anything like this happened before?" she asked sternly.

Toph hesitated, thinking of what Suki had told her, but then she remembered that Suki was keeping secrets from her too, and she nodded. "Once, a while ago, while I was sleeping."

Guanyin sighed and shook her head. "You need to tell me about these things," she said. "I can help you."

"Can you?" Toph asked. "What can you do?"

"I will find out who is behind it and hunt them down," Guanyin said firmly.

Toph grinned. "Ah, see… you're starting to like me!" she laughed.

"Like you?" Guanyin asked, horrified. "Where would you get such a repulsive idea?" She shook her head, and she hugged Toph again.


	24. Using the Spy

Having survived the assassination attempt, Toph now had to decide what to do with the would-be assassins, and just the thought of it made her wish they had been successful. "Why do I have to deal with this?" she muttered, banging her head down on the desk.

"If not you, then the court will decide," Suki replied, "and they will surely put these two to death. If that's what you want, then so be it, but you will not be washing your hands of them, only allowing their death to be put on your conscience."

"I'm well aware of that, thanks," Toph replied angrily. "I don't want them killed of course, just… I don't know, put them in prison? Do they have family?"

"They're brothers," Suki answered. "They have no other family, or any property, or jobs… they don't have anything."

Toph sighed. And all because of her carelessness.

She felt a soft touch on the top of her head and nearly teared up as Suki gently stroked her hair. "Don't blame yourself," Suki told her. "You couldn't have known."

"But I should have known!"

"How could you have seen?" Suki asked. "Are you so powerful that you can see the entire world at once? You can't know everything. We all make mistakes. At least no one died because of yours."

"…Suki?" Toph asked, wondering what she meant by that last bit. What mistakes had Suki made?

"I don't mean my own mistakes of course!" Suki replied sharply. "I'm a professional!" She stood up suddenly. "Speaking of which… I should tell you that I'll be leaving tomorrow. The King's got some spying work for me."

"Will you do something for me too?"


	25. Zuko Comes to Visit

During the next week, Fire Lord Zuko came to visit the new heir. Toph was becoming more and more annoyed and suspicious with the Earth King for not returning to Ba Sing Se, so she wasn't in a very good mood when they met. It didn't help that Mai came with Zuko, and she so obviously disliked Toph.

"I could hardly believe it when I heard that you had been named heir," Zuko said as they shook hands, "but here you are!"

"What, you don't think I have the chops?" Toph asked waspishly.

Zuko shook his head. "I didn't say that! But don't you find it amazing that of the four of us who traveled with the Avatar during the war, two of us should become rulers?"

Toph shrugged. "I guess so. I'm not ruler of anything just yet," she said. "And I might never be," she added in a mutter, thinking of all the headaches she'd had in the past few days with the assassination attempts. With Guanyin on board now, there was even more sneaky stuff to deal with, and more people to be suspicious of. She sighed heavily; she hated thinking of such things, and yet, that seemed to be her lot in life now.

"What does that mean?" Zuko asked. "Why wouldn't you become king at this point?"

Toph was surprised that he'd heard her, and became aware of all the people who were standing around observing this meeting between nobles from different kingdoms. She could feel Junjie and Huang among the audience, and she forced herself to put on a smile.

"Never mind that for now," she said as pleasantly as she could manage. "You must be tired from your trip. Why don't you take a look at your rooms and relax for a bit, and we can talk over tea later?"

Zuko nodded. "I hear you have my uncle making you tea," he said cheerily, and Toph remembered another reason she was peeved with Zuko. She wondered when the last time Zuko had spoken to his uncle was, and for a minute she selfishly considered not telling Iroh that his nephew was in town, so that Zuko would have to go of his own volition to see him. She sighed and rubbed her neck and wondered when she had become so petty. She was sure Iroh would be excited to see his nephew again, and she sent a messenger in to town to ask him if he would like to come for tea.

They all met again in a couple of hours, in a more private setting, with only the Kyoshi warriors in the room with them. After Zuko and his uncle had their reunion and talked for a bit, Zuko turned to Toph and asked, "Now will you tell me what you meant when you said you might never become king?"

Toph then explained to Zuko about the attempts on her life, telling him about it all except the times she wasn't supposed to know about. He seemed genuinely upset at the news.

"Well, don't you get this all the time?" she asked practically.

"No! Of course not!" Zuko replied vehemently. "Just because you have power doesn't mean it's natural for people to try to kill you!"

Toph shrugged, acting more nonchalant than she felt. "It's just like the wrestling ring," she said. "If you're not the strongest, you have to fight to become so."

"I really hope you're not approaching politics with the same attitude you went into professional wrestling with," Zuko said. Toph's fingers twitched into a fist at his condescending tone, but she held herself in check.

"I think she's right," Mai said flatly. "You should be cautious at least. If you get too comfortable you'll get careless, and there will be someone to take advantage of that."

Zuko turned to Mai, and she shrugged and slurped her tea loudly. Zuko opened his mouth to say something to her, but she cut him off. "I haven't seen Ty Lee in a long time," she said, changing the subject oh-so-subtly. "Toph, do you mind if I steal one of your bodyguards to do some catching up?" she asked. Toph nodded and waved them off, and Mai and Ty Lee left, Ty Lee skipping along like a little puppy on Mai's heels.

As soon as they were gone Zuko asked Toph more questions about who she thought might be trying to off her; questions she had been asked a hundred times before by others. She growled and shook her head. "I hate conspiracy! Why can't I just meet these people in a ring and bash their skulls in?" she yelled, hitting her fists on her knees.

"Like I said, that's not really how the heir to the Earth Kingdom should be acting," Zuko said. Toph was about ready to bash_ his_ skull at this point.

"Well, if it's going to be like that, maybe I don't want it anymore," she said.

"Do you really mean that?" Zuko asked. Toph was silent. She had thought she didn't mean it, when she said it, but now that she gave it a little more thought…

"You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to," Iroh said softly. "Ultimately, the choice is yours. The Earth King is not decided by blood, but by choice; the King's choice as well as your own."

Toph was quiet, thinking.

"But if not Toph, then who would be heir?" Zuko asked. "You would be able to convince the king of a new candidate I think, but you'd have to be careful not to crown a fool."

Toph glared in his general direction, having decided she'd had enough of him. "I don't feel very well," she said as she got to her feet. Iroh and Zuko both stood up with her, and she waved a hand at them to relax. "You two stay and catch up; I'm going to lie down for a bit." She left the room as quickly as possible, half impressed and half disgusted with her restraint.

As soon as she got back to her room she punched a big hole in the floor. She stood for a moment and enjoyed it before smoothing the floor back to its original state.


	26. More Visitors!

Zuko wasn't really so bad, just as long as he wasn't talking about politics. Toph had had quite enough of politics, and all she really wanted was a friend who wouldn't talk about politics with her. When Zuko arrived, she'd thought that might be him, that they could reminisce or something, but he'd let her down. He'd become a politician. At least he spent a lot of time with Iroh, so she could feel good about that, and not have to spend much time with him.

She tried talking to Huang, but he became quiet and awkward when she tried to talk to him about his personal life. Junjie was slightly better, but he was busy at the docks most of the time, building ships and being useful. Ty Lee would be the next person she would normally turn to, but she was off with Mai most of the time, and Toph wouldn't begrudge her time with an old friend. Bao and Fei Yen weren't much for talking, and Suki was still out of town doing spy stuff.

Toph was feeling especially lonely that week, which is why when she first felt his footsteps, she thought she was imagining it. "Great, now I'm hallucinating things, and I can't even see," she muttered. She was sitting in a tearoom, enjoying the warm sun on her skin in a rare moment of rest.

But he kept walking up to the palace, and she concentrated on him, and she could hear him asking for her, and when a maid answered him very kindly she figured he had to be real, for other people to be reacting to him.

She jumped to her feet and raced down the hall, leaving Bao and Fei Yen to scramble behind her. Just before she entered the hall he was in, she slowed to a stately walk and held her head up high. She had just been in a dance lesson with Guanyin, and so she was still wearing a fancy dress – even better to make him feel uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here? What makes you think you're welcome here?" she asked him haughtily.

It wasn't until Suki stepped forward to argue for him that Toph even noticed she was there too. "You were just-" she started to remind Toph of what she had said before, but he interrupted her.

"I'm sorry, I guess you're right, I shouldn't have bothered you…" he said sadly. Toph nodded slowly, and he sighed and started to walk away. For a second, Toph almost ran after him, but he turned around and laughed. "Did you really think I'd fall for that again?"

Toph laughed, and felt the weight of all the crap of the past months fall away as she went to him and hugged him. "I missed you sleepyhead," she told him.

Sokka had been prepared for a punch, and he had braced himself for it, but a hug – that caught him off guard, and he almost fell over. He grinned and returned her hug. "I missed you too."

Toph let go and punched him, now that he wasn't braced for it anymore. Sokka couldn't help smiling as he rubbed his shoulder.

"You could sure use a bath Snoozles," she told him. "You smell awful."


	27. Tea With Sokka

With Sokka's arrival Toph felt new again, and she realized how worn down she had become, how tired of all the intrigue and gossip and responsibility she had been. Even being in the same vicinity as him reminded her of their travels, and how free she had been for those few years.

She wanted to talk to him in private, but there was always someone around. Once he had cleaned up when he first arrived, he wanted to have lunch with everybody, and then she couldn't get him away from Zuko for the rest of the day – they talked on and on about the new model of blimp the Mechanist had created. The next day she was swamped with lessons and requests and talking with Suki and she hardly got to see him. She was about ready to burst with frustration by the third day, and Guanyin could tell as they went about their dance lessons.

"I can't stand you today," she finally said, after Toph had stepped on her foot for the umpteenth time. "Get out of here before I do something we'll both regret."

Toph stood still for a moment, and then she grinned at Guanyin. She really did like the old grump after all. "Thanks!" she chirped, and hurried off to find Sokka.

He was lounging about in the garden, drinking tea and eating her food. She was just about to send him down into the ground, or maybe flying across the ledges, when he called out. "Hey Toph! Got a minute to sit down with an old friend?"

Toph nodded and sat down beside him. "Are you going to pour me a cup of tea?" she asked.

Sokka shook his head. "I don't think you deserve it, if that diabolical look you just had on your face was any indication."

"What me? Diabolical? I don't even know what that looks like!" Toph argued.

"You may not, but I know it well," Sokka told her. "You always get that look on your face when you're about to pull a prank. Can't a fellow enjoy his tea in peace?"

"Yeah, alright…" she said with an exaggerated sigh. She poured herself a cup of tea and sat back and closed her eyes. If he wanted to be quiet, she could be quiet.

"So you're going to be king eh?" he said. Toph grinned – she knew he wouldn't want to be quiet.

"Yep. It's a pretty sweet deal," she said. "I get to destroy anything I like, eat dessert for dinner every day; that sort of thing."

"Funny, that's doesn't sound anything like what Suki told me," Sokka said, but he didn't sound like he found anything funny in it.

Toph cleared her throat, feeling off-balance with a serious Sokka. "What did Suki tell you?" she asked tentatively.

"She told me you miss me," he said. "That you talk about me all the time, cry yourself to sleep… that kind of thing."

Toph laughed loudly, partly to cover her embarrassment, and partly because she had missed him so damn much. "Don't you know I'm just no good without you?" she said flippantly.

"Then why did you leave?" he asked softly.

Toph fiddled with her teacup, trying to find the right words. She just wasn't very good with words. "It was… I mean, I was so useless. I couldn't do anything for you."

"Toph…" As Sokka started to speak, someone yelled her name from across the garden. Junjie hurried towards her, gasping.

"Toph! You've got to come quick! Lady Mao has broken into Lord Liang's rooms, and she's threatening to kill him!"

Toph sighed, and as she followed Junjie to Lord Liang's rooms, she wondered when it was she had started to wish for _some_ boring moments.


	28. Death Threats and Dirt

The room was already quite crowded when Toph arrived, with attendants and other nobles and bodyguards, and at the center of it all were the Lord and the Lady. Lady Mao had Lord Liang in her grip, with a knife at his throat, and Toph felt almost proud of her at the moment, knowing what she had gone through.

"Killing him will be the kindest thing I can do for my people!" Lady Mao was yelling. "Who will miss him? Who is he kind to?"

Someone asked her to calm down, and Lord Liang whimpered pitifully. Toph shook her head at his pathetic behavior. She was acting casually, moving slowly, but her nerves were on end, ready to move at the slightest provocation, the first indication of a fight.

"You can do something," Huang's soft voice in her ear. She tensed and spread her legs in a battle position, and he added, "With words."

"With words?" she asked, and with those words everyone suddenly noticed that the King's heir was in the room, and all eyes were on her. "With words! Yes, with words we will make things right!" she said loudly, advancing towards Lady Mao, making it up as she went. She hated Huang for putting her in the spotlight, mostly for making her use words. "I can help you," she told Lady Mao.

"But you said you didn't care," Lady Mao responded angrily. "Do I really have to hold someone at knife point to get any sympathy around here?"

Toph snorted. Apparently Lady Mao thought about as highly of the court as she did. "That sounds about right," she said, and then she realized that probably wasn't the right thing to say. "I mean, you've got my attention now anyway, and I… I know more about your situation now that it's been explained to me. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before, but I was in a really bad mood, and stupid, and this really isn't the way to deal with your problems." She felt like a liar when she said that – she had always been one to deal with her problems with violence, but then, she had never murdered anyone, so it was a little different.

Still, she felt like a hypocrite, and she hated that.

"You will help me?" Lady Mao asked, her grip slackening. Toph nodded, and she released Lord Liang, who quickly ran to the other side of the room.

"However I can," Toph confirmed.

"What? This woman is insane!" Lord Liang piped up suddenly, convincing Toph in a moment of his stupidity.

"You just shut up you little _toad_," Toph replied curtly. "This woman may be insane, but is she dead?"

"Obviously not!" he replied indignantly.

"So how exactly did you inherit those lands?" she asked.

"I… That doesn't matter! She threatened my life! She should be locked up!"

"So should traitors," Toph answered calmly.

"What are you implying?" Lord Liang hissed.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Toph said. She looked around and smiled innocently, "But I'm not sure you want to talk about this here, in front of all these witnesses…"

"You don't know anything!" he spat at her. "You're just a fool, a tool, just like the Earth King himself!"

Toph found herself laughing in his face. "Wow. I was going to use your embezzlement of royal funds to incriminate you, but you just went ahead and incriminated yourself," she said. "Bao, will you take this toad away please? We'll talk later. The rest of you – get back to work, or lazing about, or whatever it is you do around here," she told the rest of the gathering. "Lady Mao, you stay here with me, we need to have a little chat. …Huang, you stay too."

Once they were alone, Toph sat down heavily and sighed. "What a mess this place is. Why would anyone want all this nonsense?"

"Some of us believe we are making the kingdom a better place," Lady Mao said softly.

Toph was silent for a moment, and then she snorted. "Well you're damn fools, wanting to go into this business, and that's that."

"You're fitting in rather well," Huang said. "What was that about Lord Liang's embezzlement? Did you just make that up?"

"Of course not!" Toph replied. "I had Suki go check in on his affairs while she was away. I figured a sleazy guy like that – he wouldn't be satisfied with just taking someone else's lands and sitting on them." She turned to Lady Mao. "You see now why it took so long for us to do anything."

Lady Mao nodded, and then bowed her head. "I am only ashamed that I debased myself by getting so worked up that I would act so shamelessly. I will take whatever punishment you will give me."

"Tell me Huang, how often do you hear those words around the court: 'making the kingdom a better place'?" Toph asked.

Huang rubbed his chin, and then shook his head. "Not very often. Not nearly enough."

"No. It seems to me that there are too few people here who really want to be helpful to others. It seems a shame to have to punish someone for trying to do the right thing, no matter the methods."

"Yes indeed."

"Still, I can't just let her go. She did threaten murder after all." Toph sighed and got to her feet. "Huang, you know more of these things than I do; I leave her in your care. You decide a fit punishment for a noble woman." She patted Huang on the shoulder and then left him before he or Lady Mao could argue with her choice.

She returned to her room, to be alone at last, but before she could get to her bed, she was stopped in the anteroom by Suki and Sokka. "Hey guys, how's it hanging?" she asked, trying for levity.

"You did well in there," Suki said.

"Thanks to your information," Toph told her. She didn't feel good about what had happened. She felt tired, and she felt like a hypocrite in too many ways. She felt dirty, but it wasn't proper dirt, and she didn't like it.

"Hey, hey, what about my input?" Sokka asked. "Where's my congratulations?"

"Yes, well done Sokka," Toph said, and she patted his head as she walked past to her bedroom. "Goodnight you two."

"But Toph, it's only four," Sokka said. "Going to bed early is for lay-a-bouts and-"

"Let her be Sokka," Suki said gently, and she pulled him to his feet. "Goodnight Toph!"

Toph stood by the door and listened to their footsteps moving away before crawling under her bed and burrowing down into the ground, hoping to cleanse herself with the earth.


	29. Making a Decision

She woke the next morning with a new determination, and feeling much better for it. She emerged from the ground into the sunlight with a real smile on her face, and practically bounced out into the anteroom to meet her bodyguards.

"Where's Guanyin?" she asked. "I need to speak with her right away!"

"Um… I don't know exactly," Bao replied hesitantly. She'd never heard Toph ask for Guanyin before, and it worried her a little.

"Eating breakfast?" Ty Lee ventured.

"Breakfast sounds wonderful! Let's go!" Toph threw her arms around her bodyguards and led them out to have breakfast. They were joined by Zuko and Mai and Suki, and later, Sokka.

"What did I tell you about rising late?" Toph asked him, when he finally appeared.

He frowned and scratched his ear. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked groggily. "I thought rising early was for peasants." He sat down heavily and started to heap his plate up with food. Once he had a bit of food in him he finally looked and Toph, and said what everyone else had been avoiding saying all morning. "You're in a much better mood today."

Toph brightened even more when he noticed. Why did no one else get her like Sokka did? "I _am_ feeling much better today!" she told him. The others, who had grown wary and quiet at Sokka's remark, went back to their conversations, and she leaned forward and said conspiratorially, "That's because I made a decision last night, and it's a very good one. I think you'll be proud of me."

"You've decided to become a stone pony?" he asked.

Toph burst out laughing. That would be a good decision, almost as good as what she actually had planned. "Not quite."

After breakfast she went to Guanyin's lesson, but she didn't let Guanyin start the lesson. "I've made up my mind Guanyin," she said seriously, taking the old woman's hands in her own. "Please, take me to the King."

Guanyin studied Toph for a minute, and then she heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "I'd been hoping this day would come," she said.


	30. Sorry Huang

Toph spent the rest of her day at the palace hanging out and relaxing – something she had not been able to do enough of lately. She actually kind of liked the palace when there wasn't any crisis to take care of.

Huang came to her later that day, while she was sitting in the library with Sokka and Junjie. As she had suspected, Junjie and Sokka got along swimmingly, and pretty much left her out of their conversation, so she was glad for the interruption, though she wondered if Huang would be mad at her.

He was.

"Did you really think that was wise, what you did yesterday?" he hissed. He took her elbow and pulled her away from Sokka and Junjie so they wouldn't hear.

"I've never thought of myself as wise, but as far as my plans usually go, it wasn't bad," Toph replied.

"You left your biggest rival in court to take care of matters of royal concern!" he replied. "You left me to make a decision that should be made by the king, or someone very nearly so!"

Toph frowned at Huang and shook her head. "It's your fault you know. If you hadn't been there with your 'use words' nonsense, I would have just beaten them both senseless and been done with it."

Huang laughed. "You don't fool me anymore," he told her. "You're not some crude, foolish little girl at all. You're as good at this intrigue as anyone, what with sending out spies and manipulating spectators, and me…"

"You felt manipulated?" she asked. "I was showing my trust for you."

"You're too good at this," Huang answered abruptly. Toph could tell he was hurt, and she regretted that. She really hadn't meant to hurt him, though he was right; she had been manipulating him.

"I know," she sighed. "That's why I have to get out."

"What?"

"I'm going to see the Earth King tomorrow," she told him. She hadn't told the others yet, but her decision affected Huang most of all, so she felt she should tell him. "I don't belong here; more importantly, I don't _want_ to be here. I'm not going to become the Earth King."

"But you just… You were just getting good at it!" Huang protested.

"Yeah, and I hated myself for it," Toph told him. "I'm not noble enough to feel justified in using people, or oily enough not to feel cheap. I'm sorry for making you go through all this with me, but I can't go any further."

Huang was silent for a long time, and finally he nodded. "Of course, it's your choice," he said. "Even if I wanted to, I doubt I could stop you."

"Ha! Of course not! I'm the greatest Earthbender in the world!" Toph replied with a cackle.

"And she won't let anyone forget it," Sokka muttered on the other side of the room, and Junjie cracked up.


	31. Going to See the Earth King

They set out for the King's summer palace early the next morning. When Toph woke up she found Guanyin in the anteroom already. "We'll eat breakfast in the carriage," she told Toph. "No reason to waste any time."

"I agree," Toph said amiably.

"Well that's a pleasant surprise," Guanyin chirped, and Toph grinned at her, and followed her to the waiting carriage.

After a couple of hours of riding, Guanyin let Toph get out and stretch her legs and run alongside the carriage. She ended up spooking the horses and having to run a fair distance behind the carriage, but it was so much better than staying cooped up in there. She could already taste the freedom she would soon have, away from the palace and all its cares.

That night they stayed at an inn, and the next day was spent traveling, and the next. Toph started to wish she had asked Sokka to come along, so it could be like old times, but then she remembered she had Guanyin with her. She'd rather wait to be alone with Sokka again. The thought of being alone with Sokka made her feel strangely excited and nervous, and then she would feel pissed off for no reason, so she tried to stop thinking about him.

The King's summer palace was almost as big as his palace in Ba Sing Se, only it was much more beautiful, and surrounded by forest and mountains. When they arrived there, Toph almost reconsidered turning down the throne, if only so that she could own this place.

The Earth King came out and greeted her himself. "Toph! I had been wondering when you would come – to be honest, I expected you much sooner. But I have heard of your exploits… Come inside, and we'll sit down. I expect you have a lot you want to talk about."


	32. Stepping Down

"You know, I didn't name you as my heir simply because you laughed at Bosco being named; I really do believe you would make a good ruler. You may be a bit odd, true, but King Bumi was very odd, and he was a great ruler."

Toph frowned at the Earth King, wondering if he really didn't count himself as one of the 'odd' ones. She smiled then, and shook her head. "I already proved to myself, in the past week, that I could make a good ruler, a proper politician. But I had to work so hard at it, and I had to change, and I had to compromise myself, and I hate that. I like the way I am, I mean, the way I really am, the crass, violent girl I am, not the sneaky, manipulative person I had to become to navigate the world of nobles. This is really selfish of me, but I just don't want to be the person I have to be to be King. Anyway, Huang would make a much better king."

The Earth King rubbed his chin. "I've always been worried about naming my nephew as heir. My sister is too power hungry; I'm afraid she would control him."

Toph shook her head with a grin. "Huang won't allow himself to be controlled; that's one thing you don't have to worry about. I think he'd make a great king; he cares enough for others to sacrifice himself for them."

"I see…" the Earth King said thoughtfully. He nodded and thought for some time, and they sat in silence for a bit, and then he said, "I'll announce that you are no longer my heir, but before you leave, I want to ask; did you ever figure out who sent the assassins after you?"

Toph frowned. It was one thing she had never been able to fix, though she had never really been in danger. But then, that was the thing; she had never been in real danger. The most dangerous people were the farmers who attacked her in the street.

"I don't think it was anyone at court. In fact, I wonder about the competency of the assassins at all. Maybe they were just sent to scare me off, because they never came close to killing me."

The Earth King suddenly laughed and clapped his hands, and Toph frowned, until he explained himself. "You're right! I sent them!"

Then she was furious. "Are you serious? You sent assassins after me? Did you not want me to be King after all? Wait – will you send them after Huang too? He's not as strong as me – you can't!" She got to her feet and slammed her hands down on the desk between them.

"Don't worry, calm down," the Earth King told, with a gesture that she should sit down. She stayed standing, staring him down, but he wasn't intimidated at all. "You were never in any danger, as you say. The Kiyoshi Warriors were a part of my plan; in fact, it was Fei Yen who attacked you. The rest of it was all fabrications, stories for you to overhear and figure out."

Toph sat back, incredulous. "You're insane, you know that?"

"I'm not insane at all," The Earth King replied with a grin. "I'm _crafty_. I know how to get what I want, despite appearances to the contrary."

"And I got rid of the problem of Lord Liang for you too…" Toph said, realizing now just how crafty the Earth King really was. She was especially glad to be leaving the royal court. "But what about the farmers in the city? You didn't send them did you?"

"No… I'm afraid not. You have to understand, these things are bound to happen."

"Especially when you throw mountains around…" Toph muttered. "I do understand; I'm not the most likable person. There're bound to be some people out there with a desire to end me. Well, anyway, thank goodness that the cabbage merchant never went homicidal eh?" she joked.

"…what?" The Earth King gave her a blank stare.

Toph sighed. "Oh, never mind. I'll tell Sokka later. He'll laugh."

"Very well. I guess that's everything then?" the Earth King asked.

"I guess so."

She stayed a few days at the summer palace before going back to Ba Sing Se. Now that she wasn't heir to the throne and Guanyin didn't have to give her lessons anymore, they got on very well. Guanyin was much nicer when she was around the Earth King too, and Toph enjoyed what time she spent there, though she was a little antsy to get back to Ba Sing Se and Sokka.

The Earth King returned with them, to announce that Toph was stepping down as heir, and to name his new heir, Bosco. As well as Bosco's heir, Huang.

Toph told Sokka her joke about the cabbage merchant. He laughed. He laughed maybe a little too much, too loud and too long, but she was just so happy to be back together that she couldn't even bring herself to punch him.


	33. Celebrating the AntiClimax

Zuko had returned home while Toph was away in Dongfang, and the Kiyoshi warriors had returned to Kiyoshi Island, having no more work to do without an heir to protect. Bosco, after all, was big enough to take care of himself, and he had not done nearly so much destruction of land as Toph. Suki had gone off on another trip too, as busy as ever protecting the kingdom. The palace Toph returned to felt very different than the one she had left.

It was so changed in fact, so much friendlier now that she wasn't involved in the court intrigue, that she decided to stay for the coronation party. This time though, she would stay with Iroh, where she was comfortable and could be herself.

She didn't know what to do when she saw that his guest room was already occupied. "Um, who…?"

"You didn't think I would spend money on an inn if I could help it?" Sokka asked, appearing as if by magic from the kitchen. "I'm saving up for this lovely bag I saw at the market the other day."

Toph laughed, but she hesitated to put her bag down, and Iroh grabbed it from her and dropped it on the floor for her. "Let's eat out – to celebrate!" he said.

"What are we celebrating; Toph's failure to be king? The greatest anti-climax ever?" Sokka asked amusedly.

"Yes. Yes we are," was Toph's answer.

After dinner they took a little walk around town, though they were stared at wherever they went, and it made conversation a little awkward. "Everybody's looking at me," Sokka said flippantly, batting his eyelids at Toph. "Do I just look extra dashing tonight do you think?"

"Of course Sokka; it wouldn't have anything to do with you walking around with the former heir to the Earth Kingdom throne," Toph replied sarcastically.

Iroh laughed. "I'm glad you two get on as well as ever," he said. "I always think it's a shame when two young people can't be together… but, well, perhaps I'd best not say anything more on that matter."

"Yes, perhaps not," Toph said, feeling strangely nervous and elated. She threw her arm around Iroh's shoulder and grinned at him, giddy with regained freedom.

Iroh shrugged and sighed. "In any case, this old man should be getting back to bed. Would you two mind accompanying me?"

"Right, wouldn't want you meeting trouble," Sokka said drily. "A fragile old man such as yourself."

They walked home and said goodnight to Iroh, but neither Toph nor Sokka was ready to sleep just yet, and they sat out on the porch with a pot of tea.

"So what will you do now that you're not king anymore?" Sokka asked.

"I don't know," Toph answered. "I suppose I should return home, see little Iroh. I wonder if Mom and Dad will be disappointed that I turned down the throne?"

Sokka snorted. "Somehow I doubt it." He was quiet, fiddled with the teapot handle for a moment, and then he said, "Do you think – Would you mind if I came with you?"

"Like old days."

"Yeah, something like that," Sokka said.

"Sokka, you know I would love to have you with me," Toph replied happily. She took in a deep breath, smelling the sweet scent of her tea, and the cool night air of the city, the smoke, the people, and the animals. She could feel the breeze on her cheeks and the earth beneath her feet, stretching on and on, and she felt invincible and so alive. She felt like she could move mountains with a flick of her pinkie.

But she wouldn't.


End file.
